Support for Indie Authors discussion

Hello All, some advice please.
I'm confused about Amazon Prime Reading, and I don't see a topic where it's been covered. I accepted Amazon's invitation to nominate a book for the programme, whereby Prime members can read the book free. I'm not sure why I did, but it was accepted and now I'm being invited to renew it. Is there any benefit, or am I just giving up royalties?

Peter wrote: "Hello All, some advice please.
I'm confused about Amazon Prime Reading, and I don't see a topic where it's been covered. I accepted Amazon's invitation to nominate a book for the programme, whereby..."

Hi Peter! I think the main advantage to a program like Prime Reading is exposure. Amazon is a powerhouse marketer and will be showcasing your book to their massive email lists. This can work to your benefit where you write in a series. A reader gets the first book with their Prime membership then goes on to purchase the rest.

Thanks, Eldon, that's helpful, and clear enough. I can see the benefits with a series, less so with stand-alone books. I'll definitely give some thought to whether to renew.

Picking up on Peter's comment - do we lose royalties with this?

Anna wrote: "Picking up on Peter's comment - do we lose royalties with this?"

Hi Anna, not one hundred percent certain about this. Perhaps someone who has participated in the program can shed some more light on the situation?

@Anna - I don't have direct experience myself but it's my understanding that you receive no royalties. Apparently there are some authors that Amazon tosses in a one-time stipend as an enticement to enroll their book(s) in Prime Reading. I'm unsure how frequently that occurs though.

For most authors, other than the exposure, a small benefit is Prime Reading "sales" are supposed to count towards your book's ranking.

Todd wrote: "@Anna - I don't have direct experience myself but it's my understanding that you receive no royalties. Apparently there are some authors that Amazon tosses in a one-time stipend as an enticement to..."

Thanks for the info Todd :)

Yes, thank you - interesting, very interesting. Ho hum.

You do earn something for the number of pages read on Amazon Prime. It's not a lot (maybe $0.0001 per page? Varies each month). Some writers actually make quite a bit from these pages read source, more than from actual book sales. I don't, but I make a little every month.

@Eileen - just double checking ... I think you're referring to the page read royalties awarded within Kindle Unlimited. It is an amount that Amazon sets each month and it does vary one month to the next.

Prime Reading is actually a different program that Amazon runs as a benefit oriented to Amazon Prime customers. That's what Peter, the OP, was inquiring about.

Sometimes it can seem like Amazon gets a bit crazy with all the different programs. It's all in the name of garnering business I suppose.

I asked KDP support about royalties in Prime Reading.

It took me four emails sifting through their non-answers to a simple question to finally get this response:

"Please be advised that if you received an invite to enroll your book in Prime reading and decide to enroll your book you will receive further information on what bonus or royalties you will receive for content read under the prime reading program.

I am very sorry that I am unable to provide you the exact amount and hope you understand my limitation in this matter. "

So, your guess is as good as mine.

Rock wrote: "I asked KDP support about royalties in Prime Reading.

It took me four emails sifting through their non-answers to a simple question to finally get this response:

"Please be advised that if you r..."

Thanks for trying, Rock!

Todd wrote: "@Eileen - just double checking ... I think you're referring to the page read royalties awarded within Kindle Unlimited. It is an amount that Amazon sets each month and it does vary one month to the..."

You're correct!

You'd think that Prime Reading would be about the same as Kindle Unlimited, but I guess not.

Thanks, all, for your comments. I'm glad to have started the discussion and I thought I'd understood the answer to be 'no royalties', but KDP's response to Rock's question just muddies the water. Hopeless!

Peter wrote: "Thanks, all, for your comments. I'm glad to have started the discussion and I thought I'd understood the answer to be 'no royalties', but KDP's response to Rock's question just muddies the water. H..."

I guess the answer is that when you need to know, you'll know.

But, no, not before then.

Reminds me of the Air Force...

Well, here it is two years later, and I just finished 90 days of 'Silver Enigma' in Prime Reading.

And, no, they won't tell you squat about how many pages were read. Nada. And, no, you don't get paid anything to be in Prime Reading. At least, I didn't get paid.

On the other hand, Silver Enigma was consistently in the Top 50 in 'Kindle Science Fiction' while in Prime Reading.

Results? The three months showed steadily increasing royalties, with the last two being the best months ever.

So, whatever the actual reads were, the results were excellent. Ad ROI was upwards of 150% towards the end.

Which begs a new question for me. Since Amazon Prime readers were getting Book #1 of a 5-book series for free, and we did really well in that scenario, should I be making Book #1 $0.99. Or (shudder) Free?